Kamado-style ceramic charcoal cooking ovens or smokers are popular for cooking and grilling. Such cooking smokers act as an oven with high heat for baking and roasting, and also provide direct and/or indirect heat and smoke for grilling and smoking of meats. Popular kamado-style cooking smokers are sold under brand names such as BIG GREEN EGG®, KAMADO JOE®, and PRIMO®. Examples of such kamado-style cooking smokers are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,463,923, 9,237,828, and 9,532,680.
Kamado-style smokers burn charcoal, lump or briquette, and generate smoke that impart a smoky flavor to foods cooked in the device. Often, a person using such a smoker will employ damp chips of various types wood, e.g. hickory, mesquite, apple, pecan, etc. to generate more smoke and provide a distinctive flavor in the cooked food. Extra smoke is often considered desirable for such cookers.
Typically, the smokers have a round or oval top, with a built-in exhaust chimney on the top for exhausting smoke. The temperature of the oven is controlled by adjusting an air intake vent, usually at the bottom of the oven, and also by adjusting an exhaust vent or damper, which sits atop the chimney. In some cases, the damper is a simple rotatable chimney cover with holes that may be closed, partially opened, or opened fully to adjust the flow of smoke from the kamodo-style smoker. The damper is sometimes called a “Topper”, as it sits atop the kamodo-style smoker's exhaust chimney. One example of such a damper top is shown as element 40 in U.S. Pat. No. 9,532,680.
More commonly, though, “Toppers” are relatively complex venting devices, typically round, constructed of cast iron and having three-major functioning parts: (i) a base that fits snugly on the built-in chimney of the kamodo-style smoker and that has a large vent hole (“Topper Base”); (ii) a second piece that attaches to the damper base with a small screw, that can move laterally across the top of the damper base to cover or partially expose the large vent hole in the damper base, and that itself has oval vent holes for emitting smoke (“Topper Base Cover”); and (iii) a third piece (“Topper Damper”) that corresponds with and fits over the Topper Base Cover, that attaches to the center of the Topper Base Cover with a screw, that has oval vent holes matching those of the Topper Base Cover, and that can be rotated over the Topper Base Cover to adjust the flow of smoke by exposing, partially-exposing, or closing the oval holes in the Topper Base Cover.
Rotating the Topper Damper to align with the openings in the Topper Base Cover allows greater air flow and raises the temperature within the kamodo-style smoker, while overlapping the openings partially impedes air flow and lowers the temperature in the smoker. The quantity of smoke and smoky flavor can also be adjusted with the combination of air intake control and Topper Damper control. The entire Topper usually is sold fully assembled to be placed on top of the kamodo-style smoker's chimney. One example of such a Topper is shown as element 172 in U.S. Pat. No. 9,237,828.
A person using kamado-style ovens usually enjoys producing the smoke, as do his or her guests, as smoky aromatic cooked meats are popular in many households. The volume and type of smoke, combined with the smell of cooking food, is a part of the ambience of wood smoker cooking. Some persons using these smokers would enjoy further highlighting the smoke for himself or herself, or for his or her guests, by using the smoke to create an entertaining display to accompany the cooking event. None of the common types of Toppers provide any type of entertaining display of smoke or the ability to attach other pieces to the Topper to create an entertaining display of smoke.